


Getting The Answers

by dragonsandrockets



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-18 17:27:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21280493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonsandrockets/pseuds/dragonsandrockets
Summary: An exploration of life in the galaxy after the destroy ending.





	Getting The Answers

****  
  
_[An audience of around three hundred people have taken their seats. There is a loud click as lights flick on and a table is revealed. Six panellists await. There is a glass of water next to each panellist and they all have datapads in front of them. The cameras spring to life and float in mid-air signalling the show is ready to start. The woman at the centre of the panel speaks first]_

Emily Wong: Hello, and welcome to tonight’s episode of FCC’s _Getting the Answers_. I’m your host, Emily Wong. Joining us tonight are: former turian primarch Adrien Victus, Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh, Eve, co-leader of the krogan, Commander Armando-Owen Bailey and Diana Allers, war correspondent who reported from the Normandy SR2.

_[The audience applauds warmly]_

Emily: We’ve got quite a busy schedule ahead of us tonight so I’ll dive right in with the first question for our panel. The first question is as follows: is it right to rebuild the geth?

Admiral Xen, I’ll throw this over to you.

Xen: Thank you, Emily. It’s good to be invited and for the quarians to be allowed to partake in debates regarding our future. _[Emily reaches for the glass of water in front of her and takes a drink] _To address the question at hand, the geth must be rebuilt. This should be painfully obvious after everything that the galaxy has been through. It is clear that we need to invest again in technology. We also need extra labour to help rebuild the galaxy.

_[There is a murmur of discontent from the audience]_

Xen: React how you will but I was on Rannoch, I worked on the Crucible and I worked alongside geth. They wished to be put to work, to help, and that’s exactly what they can do as we try to repair the enormous damage the reapers caused.

Emily: Thank you, Admiral. Commander Bailey, your thoughts?

Bailey: Thank you, Emily. It’s a pleasure to be here tonight. I don’t know a whole lot about the tech or the history of what’s gone on between the quarians and the geth – but I do know the Citadel. I’ve seen Earth and the damage that’s been done and let me tell you, if you think the war is over then you’re flat wrong. People are dying in the recovery effort; getting sick from the dust and injured from the work. There’s still a hell of a lot to do across the entire galaxy so I’d agree with Admiral Xen that we need help. If the geth can be rebuilt and want to join us, then why not?

Allers: Is that really it? Have we really come full circle?

Emily: You disagree with what the Admiral and Commander have said, Diana?

Allers: I do. I don’t know the ins and outs of quarian tensions with the geth either but I know the basics: the quarians created the geth as a source of labour and then the geth rebelled and a lot of lives were lost, and now we want to risk the same events happening again?

Xen: So, you object to technology that could potentially save lives?

Allers: No, I want the geth rebuilt - but so that they can choose to live how they want. They were our allies.

I lived alongside a geth unit briefly on the Normandy, and more happily by his side-

Xen: _Its_.

Allers: - than some other people did. The geth were willing to talk. They were willing to help. My inbox was flooded with thousands of messages from people worried about the Commander striking up a relationship with the geth but it resulted in one of the most successful alliances the galaxy has ever known, and it peacefully ended a dispute that was centuries old. I think they’ve earned the right to life.

_[There is a smattering of applause]_

Xen: You’ve been swayed by your sentimentality to that particular unit, as Commander Shepard was.

Emily _[before Allers can respond to Xen]_: Victus, your thoughts?

Victus: Thank you, Miss Wong, and thank you for inviting me this evening. When we look back at what happened we can feel confident in the intentions of the geth. When the geth were isolated in the galaxy, they turned to the reapers – but when we gave the geth a chance, they worked with us to defeat the reapers. They wanted to survive and were honest about that. They made alliances where they could and we should have turned to them sooner. They were ready to sacrifice their existence to destroy the reapers. I don’t think there’s anything left to fear from the geth - unless we do rebuild them simply to exploit them and give them a reason to rebel. The quarians have lived through that once before and it would be unwise to repeat history.

Eve: I agree with Victus, which I’m sure will come as a shock to everyone. _[The audience give a gentle laugh]_ The geth were loyal allies and we should treat them with respect. It’s true krogan have not generally had access to AI, such as the geth, but then, the geth and krogan do have something in common: our deadliest enemies were those species who thought they were superior, who used us and oppressed us and ultimately expected sympathy for their tyranny.

We need to build a new galaxy. It is not just about repairing the buildings which have fallen and recreating our technology. We need to build true allegiances and strengthen our communities. If the geth are to be rebuilt then they deserve freedom. However, the fact that such a prominent voice within the quarians is pushing this dangerous line, that they should be used as a labour force and have no say over their future, should give us all reason to be cautious. It might be best to let the geth rest in glory, rather than be remade to be toyed with again.

Emily: Ultimately, do you sway more toward not reviving the geth?

Eve: It might be the wisest course of action. I have hope that we can create a better galaxy but we’re not there yet.

Emily: Okay, then let’s throw follow up questions to the audience. Yes, you in the – is that a Blasto jumper?

Audience member _[laughing]_: It is!

Emily: A popular garment, I’m sure. What is your question?

Audience member: My question is whether it’s right to even be thinking about this now? The war just ended and we haven’t rebuilt the relays yet. Why should the geth be our priority?

Emily: Diana.

Allers: Because they were living beings.

Xen: Incorrect, they were machines. They were no more alive than my omnitool. The geth were just sophisticated, and more so than your understanding of technology. But, to go back to the question, we should focus on rebuilding the geth now because they could make our efforts to rebuild the rest of the galaxy easier in the long run.

Emily: Eve, do you think this should be a priority for the galaxy?

Eve: It is something which we should discuss, but we don’t need to bring back the geth immediately. If we are to do it, it would be better to wait until the situation is stable so that the geth cannot be exploited by our differing factions.

Xen: If we wait, they will not be as useful as they could be to aiding the recovery efforts.

_[From the left, there is a loud round of applause for Xen at this]_

Emily: Let’s go to another audience member. Yes, you, wearing the Alliance cap.

Audience member: Thank you, Emily. I just wondered what the panel thought of having any AI at all now in the galaxy?

Emily: Victus, would you care to answer first?

Victus: Yes, thank you, Emily. _[Victus pauses for a moment to consider the wording of his answer] _There have long been questions of AI in our galaxy and whether they should be allowed to exist but I think it’s incredibly difficult to stop progress. Whether it’s the geth or something else, we will always be a society which has AI. Yet, it is important to remember that the geth were our allies and the fears around AI often revolve around the geth – who rebelled against quarian control. They did not act like that out of hate. It was a tense political situation. Fear of AIs has increased because of what we have all endured with the reapers, too. But, the reapers were not purely AI. They were a malevolent type of hybrid. We must acknowledge the past but not let it taint our judgement. However, it’s good to be able to have these discussions now with consideration for our fraught history.

Bailey: I agree with the former Primarch that AI will always be made. Hell, on the Citadel anything we tried to ban was often created or smuggled in at twice the rate that it had been before legislation was passed. Allowing, but controlling the creation would be the safest way to proceed.

Xen: And we already know the geth and what we would be dealing with which is why they are the best way forward.

Allers: For the galaxy? Or, for the quarians?

Eve _[Before Xen can counter]_: Or even for the geth themselves?

Xen _[extremely irritated]_: Those things are all tied together. Working for the galaxy benefits the geth. It will allow us to work with them to develop their technology, and this, in turn, helps the rest of us. May I remind you all that these are _machines_. They do not experience life the way we do.

Allers: But they do experience it.

Emily _[jumping in quickly]_: Okay, so we don’t run out of time and have to rush the next discussion points I think it’s best that we end the first part of tonight’s show there. Thank you, everyone. Our next question is: should the Council expand to allow new members join?

Given the krogan history with the Council, Eve, I’d like to start with you.

Eve: Thank you, Emily. Krogan history has shown that if the Council accepted all of our advanced species as equal a lot of trauma and atrocities would never have happened. The war joined communities which had been divided for centuries. The bonds of friendship were allowed to grow again, but now the reaper threat has passed and it is up to us to decide whether we were united only to beat a common enemy or whether we united to help make this galaxy better for all. I believe that the krogan deserve a seat on the council to decide our fates and to make our voices heard, as do the volus, the drell –

Emily: The vorcha?

Eve: Yes, the vorcha, if they would like to join.

_[There is a nervous laugh from the audience]_

Eve: Each group of people deserves a say in how they are ruled, and the laws they live by.

Emily: Victus, what do you think?

Victus _[sighing heavily]_: I agree with Eve’s sentiment but, in practice, I don’t believe it is feasible in the long term. The batarians, for instance, were a constant threat to galactic stability and people everywhere by their practice of slavery. Their population has heavily declined since the reaper invasion but they have shown no willingness to abandon their oppressive customs. How could we allow a batarian representative to serve on the Council given the threat they pose?

_[This elicits the loudest applause yet from the audience]_

Emily: Diana, what do you think?

Allers: And yet we all looked the other way when it came to Ilium which is dominated by asari - and this is a planet where indentured servitude is allowed. _[There is a loud cheer from a quarian at the front of the audience]_

I joined the Normandy when Commander Shepard arrived on the Citadel after Earth had been hit. When I was getting my gear on the Normandy, I was being told over the comms that the Council had decided to leave Earth to the reapers so their own worlds could build up their resources.

Victus: This was believed a necessary tactic at the time. We were staring at an unimaginable force.

Allers: It should not have been unimaginable. We had warning. But that isn’t my point, so if you could please allow me to finish, Victus _[Emily signals for Allers to continue. Victus picks up his datapad and starts to scroll through his notes]_ After that decision was made by the Council, the asari refused to attend Shepard’s summit. The salarians then objected to working alongside the krogan, who wanted a cure for the genophage. I have a huge amount of respect for the salarian, turian and asari people. I have great admiration for Victus and I saw his dedication in fighting the reapers first-hand, and what it cost him. However, the Council let the galaxy down. There were decisions taken which did not benefit the wider galaxy they were supposed to serve. They retreated behind their own lines and it is a practice which is still carrying on. That is why there is no asari representative here tonight, despite being invited. And yet not invited was a batarian voice, or a hanar voice or even a volus representative.

Emily: So, you support the idea of expanding the Council?

Allers: I think it’s the least we could do but honestly, I think the Council failed when we needed it most. The system just did not work. We could look at a new order where we work together, negotiate together and work as a collective rather than have a body which tries to impose the will of its representatives onto the rest of the galaxy.

Eve: That would be a good long-term goal.

Bailey: I can’t agree with that. We need laws to ensure that the galaxy is brought into order and we need a strong government. What got us through the mess was having a Council still to fall back on even after the Citadel was attacked by Cerberus. It’s having a strong government and people to uphold that order that will keep us on the right track.

Emily: You would want to keep the Council as it is, Commander?

Bailey: The politicians can decide who is worthy and who has proved themselves but we do need a government. It would be nice if everything was fair and easy but it doesn’t work like that. We’ve got looters and people looking to cause chaos and exploit the vulnerable in our society. They must be stopped and we must protect those who have been left without support from this damn war. We need a Council and we need all of the members to sing from the same hymn sheet so we can get the recovery done.

_[There is firm applause for Bailey particularly from the back rows and he nods to signal his gratitude]_

Emily: Admiral Xen you have been unusually quiet for this discussion _[The audience laughs briefly]_. What are your thoughts?

Xen _[has been quiet since the end of the questions about artificial intelligence and looks around the room now as if bored]_: The Council decided for centuries they had no use for the quarians or our problems so I think we can carry on doing very well without them.

Allers: You did request help during the war to resolve the conflict with the geth.

Xen: Commander Shepard required our services in return. Now, we can go our separate ways, which I believe was the point of defeating the reapers: so that we could all have our liberty back.

Allers _[muttering but it is picked up by the microphone]_: Except for the geth…

Emily _[quickly]_: Let’s see if the audience has any questions. _[Emily points to a woman in the front row]_ Go ahead.

Audience member: Thank you, Emily. Do you think the relocation of the Citadel will influence galactic politics?

Emily: A very interesting question. Of course, since the end of the war, the Citadel has been stationed within Earth’s space. The capital has effectively been transported across the galaxy. Do you think this will change things?

Commander Bailey, I’d like to ask you first given your years of service on the Citadel.

Bailey _[swings back on his chair looking thoughtful]_: I mostly deal with security so my main concern has been how the Citadel being above Earth will influence the security measures we need to take to protect the Council and the rest of the station. But I think it does make a difference. The Citadel is in the middle of yet another major clean-up operation but this time, the human presence is more pronounced. Travel overall is difficult across the galaxy with the destruction of the relays but humans can get to the Citadel with relative ease and they’ve helped our efforts - but a greater human presence is not something everyone appreciates.

There have been politicians who have ran for Citadel seats who did so on anti-human platforms. There are tensions, and if there are tensions on the Citadel then you can bet that has carried across space and there will be on Palaven, on Thessia, on Dekuuna or wherever else. There will be people who are frustrated that the capital of our galaxy no longer resides in what was seen as neutral territory.

Victus: Commander Bailey is quite right to touch on the recovery efforts because transport routes have now completely changed. The commands from the Council are coming from what is a new capital, even if the station remains the same. There are a lot of logistics to work out and, in truth, we might not know the impact until we’re six months into our post-war lives, when we can step back and see what difference it has made.

Eve: There are misgivings and I have heard them, but I would like to remind people, particularly fellow krogan, of one thing: it was a human who was responsible for delivering the genophage cure. Without the efforts of Commander Shepard, through negotiation and through combat missions, we would never have been cured. It is also fair to say that without Commander Shepard we might not have won the war at all.

There is a lot of distrust. Humans are relatively new to the galaxy and Councillor Udina was responsible for a lot of casualties, as were Cerberus. Humans have made mistakes, so too have the asari which has been discussed, and the quarians and the turians and the salarians. But, there were many humans who gave their lives protecting this galaxy and I haven’t seen any attempts by humanity to take advantage of their new position, and so I think we should carry on and do what we can for the galaxy without looking over our shoulders waiting for a knife to strike us.

Emily: Thank you, Eve for that response. I would just like to stop this discussion there because Eve just touched on what is the basis for next question. Eve talked about Commander Shepard and how the Commander led the war effort. Now, I would like to ask the panel this: what do you think will be the legacy of Commander Shepard?

Everyone on this panel worked with Commander Shepard in some capacity. However, Diana, I think it’s fair to say you worked with the Commander the most. You were stationed on the Normandy for the duration of the war, held regular interviews with Shepard and saw the Commander in what little down time you all got on the ship, and so I am interested to hear your response to this, if you don’t mind going first.

Allers: Of course not, Emily. _[Allers takes a steadying breath_] I did spend a lot of time with Commander Shepard and it was an honour. It was also extremely difficult. Every day I would get messages from people who begged me – really, _pleading_ with everything they had – to ask Shepard to save their loved ones. I got to see who Shepard truly was. I also saw just how powerful the image and symbol of Shepard became.

Now the war is over, there are going to rightly be concerns and complaints about some of Shepard’s actions. I don’t think it is wrong of the galaxy to raise those questions because so much of the spectres’ work was covert, and Shepard didn’t always play by the rules because the rules didn’t get the results the galaxy needed. Shepard did the things nobody else wanted to. Is Shepard a hero? Was Shepard ruthless? Could there have been a better way? Yes and no to all of them.

Shepard took up leadership because everyone else in the galaxy turned away, and Shepard did the best with what was available. You don’t always know what the right thing is or how things will turn out. Every day I watched a squad go out on a mission, make difficult choices, come back to the ship and then wait to see if that gamble had paid off. A lot of the time it didn’t. A lot of the time it didn’t feel worth it. But Shepard and the whole team had to do something because it was the only way through.

I think of Shepard with pride and with a lot of love and respect. But I hope if the legacy is anything it’s that never again will we put so much on one person, and that we learn to organise so that we won’t need a commander to unite us. We need to work together and keep these alliances alive and have the difficult conversations. We need to listen to each other. This new galaxy will have problems – hopefully not reaper-size problems – but we’re in charge now. We can’t turn to Shepard now but we can honour everything the Commander did for us and we can learn from it and try to do better.

Victus: This may surprise the audience but I agree with every word Miss Allers has said.

Allers _[chuckling]_: Thank you, Victus.

Emily: There have been questions about the people Shepard worked with. Some were murderers. Shepard did also associate with those who worked with Cerberus. What do you think of those concerns?

Allers: Shepard worked with Cerberus to attack the Collector base and was pardoned for that. The Cerberus associates you’re referring to helped save this galaxy. Jacob Taylor is a wonderful man who quit the Alliance so he could fight reapers, and then he left Cerberus when it was clear that they were becoming a threat. He was serving the galaxy, and sometimes that requires sacrifice. He broke the law to do it but, thank goodness, he did. We needed people to stand up. Miranda Lawson has also come under scrutiny but she brought Shepard back, and served with Shepard to attack the Collector base, played a major role in destroying Cerberus and in exposing The Illusive Man’s activities in trying to control the reapers. I will defend them as readily as I would defend Shepard.

Bailey: I also remember a time when Shepard was vilified for stealing the Normandy but then went on to save the Citadel from Sovereign so as much as even I support the law, it is important to have people who will push the boundaries for the greater good. I was shot by Cerberus, and I think Jacob Taylor and Miranda Lawson deserve damn medals for their service.

Emily: Another significant issue when discussing Commander Shepard is that the batarians have long held Shepard responsible for the destruction of the Alpha relay and the subsequent deaths from that event. Some quarters among batarians also feel aggrieved that humanity rose so quickly to the Council and argue that the batarians were left politically isolated. How do you view that situation?

Victus: It’s hard for those who lost loved ones during the relay destruction but Shepard did it for the greater good.

_[There is a quiet applause]_

Eve: I am devoted to Shepard but I believe that response is inappropriate.

It is a brutal loss the batarians suffered. And did the galaxy honour them? For all the extra time Shepard gave us, the galaxy did little to prepare and the batarians were the first major causalities from the reaper invasion. The result is that they may never be the society they once were.

I can understand the deep pain of the batarians but I urge them not to blame the Commander. Shepard was put in a terrible, terrible situation, one that was caused by the reapers - but also a galaxy who had been unwilling to listen to the warnings. Shepard was caught in the middle, as were the batarians.

Bailey: Shepard hardly had time to consult the batarians about the Alpha relay. They weren’t shut out, but they pressed for the Commander to face consequences when Shepard was one of the few people trying to save us all. That was time wasted.

Emily: Admiral Xen I’d like your thoughts now.

Xen: Commander Shepard worked with whatever and whoever was available. One can argue about the legitimacy or morality of such an approach, but if the batarians had been more open to the Commander’s efforts in the first place and less hostile over the reaper threat, then they might have done better for it. Blaming the Commander for what happened did not help their people in the end. 

Eve: The batarians should not be blamed for distrusting someone who they saw as leading them to harm.

Xen: But the batarians never gave the galaxy any reason to trust in them either. They’d stolen countless people across space and forced them into slavery. To understand what happened we must examine all who played a part, including the batarians. The batarians were isolated from the very beginning because of their own politics. How easy it is for them to lay the blame at Shepard’s door when throughout history, they made mistake after mistake.

Victus: Admiral Xen has a point. The batarians have long been hostile to the other races and have posed a major security threat. The batarians would always find themselves isolated eventually. It was difficult enough for Shepard to broker alliances between races which had traditionally worked together. In the end, despite having Council membership, the turians and salarians could not work together over the issue of the genophage. The galaxy was too divided but unlike other species, the batarians never tried to bridge the gap. Little could have prevented what happened with the Alpha relay but had the batarians played a bigger part in the galactic community, they might have received more aid and been better prepared for the eventual invasion.

Allers: It might have been helpful if the batarians were allowed a platform and had been invited tonight. That could be the next step to try build a closer galactic community.

Xen: Or it could start another war.

Emily: So, Xen, do you think if Shepard has worked with a more diverse team it could have altered the course of history?

Xen: It could have strengthened it or it could have weakened it. It is difficult to see what representatives of other species could have brought to the Commander as they had so little influence or political capital.

Eve: A different voice. A different perspective. When making decisions, that can help deeply.

Emily: Eve, do you think the Normandy team could have been more diverse?

Eve: I think it would have been better if it was, and I think it would have been something the Commander would have wanted. But the Commander had been widely discredited before the invasion and had few allies to turn to.

Allers: I agree. I think there was a bigger problem that went back centuries which couldn’t have just have been overridden with Shepard allowing open applications – although Shepard did try. It needed changes from within the Alliance, the Council and the galaxy, and then more people might have had a chance to be more deeply involved in the process of resistance.

Xen: The Council had long since determined which voices should be listened to. It would hardly have served the Commander to start hiring vorcha.

Allers: The quarians had been on the fringes of galactic politics, but you benefitted when Admiral Tali joined the Normandy.

Xen: We offered resources and intelligence. We cannot be compared to vorcha.

Emily [_with finality]_: Thank you, both _[turning to the audience]_ Yes, in the _Armax Arsenal Arena _jacket. What would you like to ask the panel?

Audience member _[takes the microphone offered with a shaking hand and looks visibly upset]_: I’m not a member of the Council or the Alliance. I’ve never met Commander Shepard. But Shepard’s actions touched me deeply. The Commander is a war hero and while the reapers focused on London, I was able to get to safety. I watched as the reapers were destroyed and I cheered with everyone else as I watched them burn, but the Commander marked my life before the reapers came. You see, I had a brother. We were poor growing up and our family moved around a lot and when we were on Omega, you couldn’t escape the gangs. They were everywhere; offering protection, threatening people, trying to recruit anyone they could. Omega – there’s not a lot of hope there. Some say it’s better with Aria as leader and safer and it probably is but that doesn’t mean it is _safe_. Eclipse promised my brother a better life and an escape from our horrible situation and at fifteen he joined them. Fifteen. He was still a child when they recruited him. After a couple of years, they sent him to work on Ilium and then one day he stopped messaging me. After a week of no contact, I hired an information broker and found out my brother had been killed by Commander Shepard’s squad. I don’t know the details. I don’t know why. I just know Shepard – or one of the Commander’s squad – killed my brother. And I’m not the only one in my situation. Shepard’s operations got a lot of people killed and you can say it was for the greater good and that my brother was a bad person but here I am, left with all this grief while the galaxy celebrates the Commander who was responsible for my brother’s death. So, I ask the panel just what they really think of Shepard? Whether the stories like mine and my brother’s matter in all of this?

Emily _[with as much compassion as she can summon]_: Thank you sincerely for your contribution. I am very sorry for your loss.

Audience member: I’m not sure many are but thank you.

Emily: Commander Bailey, you see a lot of similar stories of people struggling in poverty on the wards. It’s a very difficult situation… to discuss such a matter…but do you have thoughts on Shepard’s legacy in this context?

Bailey: I do and I apologise sincerely for the loss that this courageous woman has experienced. The gangs are scum. The prey on people and they use them to get into dangerous situations, and to take a bullet for them. The gang leaders themselves are usually doing red sand from home while most of the operations go on. I sympathise with you ma’am, that it must be so difficult to see Shepard’s picture everywhere, but I’m not sure it changes my opinion on Shepard’s legacy. It certainly hardens my resolve to fight those gang bastards. _[Turning to Emily, apologetic] _Sorry.

Emily _[waving it off]_: It was bound to happen tonight. Diana, do you have any thoughts?

Allers: I am very sorry for you, your brother and for all of the people in similar situations. It’s difficult for the soldiers who just see an enemy, a threat to the peace, and then the gangs see soldiers as an enemy and a threat, so all sides go in firing. I don’t know the situation and I can’t comment on the specifics. The Commander was someone who was often very fair in negotiations but when the shots fired, it was time to get the job done and that would mean bloodshed and death. That doesn’t mean every call would have been right or that Shepard can’t be criticised.

However, for me, that means that more than perhaps looking at Shepard, we need to look at our society. Stop people joining gangs, make the military and the spectres operate in different ways and find different solutions. We need to look at the ways to limit violence as much as possible. It goes back to what we said before: we trusted in Shepard to make the right calls and do the right thing, but should we have really left it at that? We can’t rely on someone to be a hero or the villain on our behalf. We have to build a better society.

Emily: Admiral Xen.

Xen: I have sympathy but he was a gang member, and while he was recruited as a child, he continued working for them as an adult. Such an outcome is hardly surprising.

_[The audience gives a sharp intake of breath and an audience member tries to argue but with no microphone she cannot be heard.]_

Emily: I think it’s important to be as sensitive as possible on an issue which is so personal and fraught.

Xen: Quite, but the facts remain the same.

Victus: I would like to emphasise that before becoming a spectre, Commander Shepard was a respected and decorated soldier who had received some of the best training the galaxy had to offer. Shepard was trusted to be a spectre precisely because the Commander was able to carry out operations and negotiations skilfully. When bloodshed could be avoided, it was Shepard’s job to ensure that was the case. In such circumstances, gangs aren’t able to negotiate because it isn’t profitable and their leaders don’t want them to. There is often very little room to manoeuvre, and while Shepard would be the one who would appear to be the enemy to gangs, the gang leaders are the ones who truly put lives in danger. Shepard would simply be acting to minimise harm to innocent civilians.

Emily: Although we have to state that in this case, we don’t know the details.

Victus _[reluctantly]_: No.

Eve: May I ask what was your brother’s name?

_[The audience member is handed back a microphone]_

Audience member: Matteo.

Eve _[nodding]_: Matteo. I am sorry for your loss. Many krogan have faced a similar fate. When the genophage happened, my people lost all sense of hope and purpose. Many krogan joined gangs looking to restore some sense of pride. They were wrong. They were preyed upon by people looking to exploit their pain. Too many lives have been lost in such a brutal manner and we must ensure that it ends in this new galaxy we are building together.

Emily: Thank you to the panel and of course, our audience tonight.

I would like to just ask one final quick question of you all: when you look to the galaxy’s future, do you have hope after so much loss?

Eve: On my homeworld, which was ruined by bombs, there is now life. The ground is dusty and there are ruins everywhere. It is a hard life under an angry sun. And yet, we can see green. There is the start of life again and it was that thought which gave me comfort as the reapers wrought havoc. Now we are at peace, it has given me the determination to do my part to see that life flourishes across the galaxy. Yes, I have hope.

Bailey: I think the Citadel is pulling together and I see communities around Earth trying to pitch in and it makes me damn proud, really. I have a lot of hope.

Victus: Yes, but we are in dangerous times. It’s easy to think the threat to peace is over now our enemy has been defeated but a lot of things remain uncertain. We must work hard to ensure we don’t squander this second chance.

Xen: I would have hope if the geth were to be rebuilt, but I fear that the galaxy will let its childish fears around AI get in the way of true progress.

Diana: I have a lot of hope. We’re going to carry a lot of pain and a lot of grief but we should use that to build communities based on that common pain, love and solidarity. Victus is right. It’ll be hard, but I hope we can do it.

Emily: Thank you for your final thoughts. It’s been a pleasure to be the host tonight. Next week’s episode of FCC’s _Getting the Answers _will air on Wednesday at 9pm and our guests will be: Blasto, journalist _Khalisah_ Bint Sinan _al_-_Jila, Head of Grissom Academy Kahlee Sanders, the elcor embassador Calyn and Captain Kirrahe. Good night. _


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